Rediscovering Fire
by purewanderlust
Summary: When Meggie left the Inkworld three years ago, she never expected to return. A message from an old friend prompts her to come back and fix what she hadn't three years earlier. Meggie/Dustfinger. Spoilers for Inkspell, AU to Inkdeath.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I most definitely don't own Inkheart

**Disclaimer:**** I most definitely don't own **_**Inkheart**_**. You will most definitely get nothing if you sue me.**

**A/N: First ever **_**Inkheart**_** fic here! Please review!!**

**Prologue**

"**To leave is to die a little; it is to die to what one loves. One leaves behind a little of oneself at any hour, at any place.**

**- **_**Desert Water, **_**Gary E. Parker**

"We're leaving?" Meggie cried. "But why?"

Mo looked down at her solemnly. "Sweetheart, we don't belong here." he said softly. "It's high time we returned home."

"We could stay." she persisted. "We can belong here, if we want. Fenoglio did it."

"And just look at what happened to Fenoglio!" answered her father. "He's hardly himself anymore."

"Besides all that," interjected Resa. "Mortola is still alive, even if Basta is gone. The Adderhead will continue to hunt us if we stay here. It's simply too dangerous."

Meggie remembered the Adderhead's cruel, fat face and Basta's knife glinting and she almost gave up her argument. But then she recalled that horrible day, kneeling next to Farid's lifeless body in a dim, dank cavern…

_"You'd like to have him back too, wouldn't you?"_

"But what about Dustfinger?" she demanded. Resa's expression twisted slightly and Mo sighed deeply, looking, for a moment, like a withered old man.

"Dustfinger made his decision." he finally said wearily. "It's no good trying to bring back the dead."

"But Silvertongue," Farid piped up. "If it weren't possible, I wouldn't be here right now."

"Farid," Mo said, turning to the Arab boy. "I cannot stop you from staying here and continuing to search for Dustfinger. But you are welcome to return with us, if you would like to."

Meggie didn't even have to hear his answer to know what it was. It was clear in his dark, round eyes what he intended to do. Farid glanced pleadingly at her, begging her not to be angry with him. Dustfinger meant more to him than Meggie did, but she did not fault him for that.

"Thank you, Silvertongue." he replied hesitantly, "But I have to find Dustfinger."

Mo nodded, glancing none-too-subtly at Meggie to discern her reaction. "Would…Do you two need…want a moment to say goodbye?" Resa hid a smile as her husband stumbled through the sentence. Meggie and Farid both shook their heads hastily; neither one liked goodbyes.

"We had better go." Meggie's mother suggested in her quiet voice. "Before Elinor decides to try involving police again."

Mo nodded his agreement and fished a slip of paper out of his pocket.

"Surely Orpheus didn't write that for you." Resa said nervously.

"Of course not. Fenoglio did."

"But Fenoglio swore to never…" Meggie began.

Mo cut her off quickly. "He made one exception to get us safely home." he explained. "I didn't want Orpheus to know we were leaving."

"So you mean only Fenoglio and Farid know we're going?" asked Meggie.

"That's right. Now quiet down so I can concentrate."

Before she could say another word to stall their leaving, Mo started reading what was written on the paper, his voice as smooth a silk.

"Goodbye, Meggie!" cried Farid, waving sadly. "I hope you come back someday!"

She gave him her best smile in return. "Bye Farid! Please find Dustfinger, I'm counting on you!" She felt hot tears in the corners of her eyes threatening to spill over and blinked them away.

When Meggie opened her eyes again, she was in Elinor's library. Before she could do anything, she heard the rattle and crash of a tea tray as it was dropped to the floor.

"Mortimer! Teresa! Meggie!" cried Elinor, enveloping her niece in a hug. "Thank heavens! I thought I would never see you again!"

As she was pulled into a hug, Meggie thought wistfully of the Inkworld. It stung her to think that it was finally all over.

She had never been so wrong in her life.


	2. An Urgent Message

**A/N: Erm, thanks for the reviews on the prologue. On to the first chapter!**

**An Urgent Message**

"Meggie, time to get up!" Resa's voice echoed up the stairs. "Breakfast is ready!"

Meggie sat down small paperback tome she had been reading and slid unwilling out from under the covers. She dug around in her dresser and found a pair of jeans and a clean sweater.

"Meggie!" her father called this time. "Are you coming?"

"Just a minute!" she shouted back, pulling the sweater over her head. "I'm coming!" Glancing out the window at the cloudless sky, she pocketed the book, thinking of maybe reading outside.

On her way out the bedroom door, she pulled yesterday's date off of the quote-of-the-day calendar that Darius had gotten her for her most recent birthday. She paused in the doorway, staring at the date. It was the exact same day they had arrived home from the Inkworld, three years before. Had it really been that long? She pressed her hand to her sweater pocket and swept out of the room.

With a sigh, Meggie jogged down the stairs and headed for the kitchen. Everyone else was already at the table, waiting for her. She grinned sheepishly at their glances.

"Well, it's about time, Sleeping Beauty." teased her mother. "I was beginning to wonder if you would ever get up."

"You can hardly blame her, Teresa, it is a Saturday." pointed out Elinor. Mo shook his head knowingly.

"Meggie wasn't asleep." he said, winking at her. "You were sitting in bed reading, weren't you?"

"Of course." Her smile faded slightly, but she hoped no one noticed it. No such luck. Of course Mo, who knew her better than anyone else in the world, could tell with another look at her face that she was holding out information and his lips pressed together in a thin line.

"What book were you reading, Meggie?" he asked softly.

"Uh…" Meggie racked her brains for a title and threw out the first that came to her. "_To Kill A Mockingbird_." she lied, crossing her arms over the lump in her jacket.

"Didn't you read that last week?" Mo asked casually. The teen bit her lip and he held out his hand wordlessly. Meggie withdrew the book from her pocket, passing it across the table to him in equal silence. Elinor threw her a worried look and passed over the pancakes which Meggie set to work drowning in syrup, determinedly avoiding her father's gaze. There was a long silence as Mo stared at the cover.

"Where did you get this?"

"Um, well…" Meggie glanced covertly at Elinor, uncertain of how much to share, and the older woman jumped in.

"It's quite simple, Mortimer." she said briskly. "At the last old bookstore Darius and I visited, we met an old bookkeeper who had hidden away a copy when the others started being stolen. He was convinced it was cursed and practically gave it to me." Mo opened his mouth, but Elinor quickly cut him off. "I just thought Meggie deserved to actually read the book that has shaped so much of her life." Meggie risked a peek up at his expression. He glanced between her and Elinor pensively.

The bookbinder said nothing, looking down at the book again. When he opened it to the bookmarked page, it was all Meggie could do not to wince. He looked up at her with an expression of mingled exasperation and admiration.

"You're still worried about saving Dustfinger." it wasn't a question, but Meggie nodded anyway. With a sigh, her father handed the book back to her. "I suppose Elinor is right." he said, throwing a glance at the bibliophile. "You do have the right to read it. Just give me your word you won't try anything silly." Meggie knew instantly what he meant: don't use your gift to read anyone or anything into or out of that book.

"I swear." she said in a low voice. The silence that suddenly descended on the five breakfasters was overwhelming. Finally, Resa spoke up, turning to her daughter.

"Megs, your father and I are going into town today to help Signor Giovaldi--he has some really old editions that are in need of repair. Would you like to come along?"

"Actually, I think I'll stay home and finish my book." she answered with a twinkle in her eye. "Signor Giovaldi's house smells like boiled cabbage."

Her joke had done the trick. Mo laughed loudly, breaking the tension. "That it does." he chortled.

"I guess that means you have the house all to yourself today." Elinor added. "Darius and I heading to a traveling book caravan that's supposed to be coming through the area. I'll bring you back a new book."

"Don't you get into any trouble, Meggie." her father said teasingly, but Meggie could hear the real warning behind his words.

"I wouldn't dream of it."

* * *

Within the next two hours, both groups had departed, leaving Meggie alone in the huge mansion. She sat in her room and read for a while, but her mind was buzzing and she was unfocused. After reading the same paragraph three or four times, Meggie gave up. Perhaps because of the date, she felt restless, and she soon got up to go for a walk around the property, grabbing a jacket on the way out.

Outside, despite the bright sunshine, it was chilly, but Meggie didn't mind. She simply hugged her jacket tighter to her body as she explored the yard.

There was no sound except for her own breathing. Meggie thought it was very peaceful. Humming absently, she turned the corner and came up on the only unkempt part of the lawn.

Four years after the fact, the grass outside the library didn't grow. A huge, perfectly round burn spot was the only memorial to all of the wonderful books that Elinor had collected over the years.

Meggie remembered her father's constant warnings not to read by candlelight. _Fire devours books_, he said. But she also knew fire could be harnessed and controlled. Farid and Dustfinger were proof of that.

A sigh escaped her lips when Meggie realized her thoughts had just taken her full circle, bringing back the thoughts that she had come outside to avoid. With an irritated huff, she sank onto the ground and laid on her back, watching the clouds roll over head. It wasn't long before she began to feel drowsy and felt herself dropping off to sleep.

When Meggie woke up, it was still light outside. The sun hadn't moved very far, so she guessed she hadn't been asleep long. For a moment, she wondered what had wakened her, until she heard the cry of a bird and rustling of the grass. Still slightly disoriented, she sat up and looked around. As soon as she saw the source of the noise, she shrieked, instinctively backing away.

Sitting in the grass, just a few feet away was a marten, clutching a bloodied, flailing bird between its paws. The weasel-like creature shook the robin by it's neck and the bird stopped flapping. Meggie instantly recognized the horns on the marten's head and then, creeping slowly closer, noticed something white around its neck.

Her curiosity piqued, she continued crawling towards it, moving at a snail's pace, so as not to scare it. She wasn't sure if this was Gwin or Jinx or some other marten entirely, but she certainly didn't want to be bitten.

When she was with in two feet of the animal, she knew for certain that it was Gwin and could see that the white thing on his neck was a stained piece of paper, tied in place with a length of rope. Seeing no other option, she jumped forward and caught the marten in with both her arms.

Alarmed, Gwin did not try to bite her, but struggled fiercely against her hold. Meggie managed to tear the paper from his makeshift collar before he finally squirmed away from her. Breathless from her fight with the marten, Meggie unfolded the paper to a very brief note scrawled in an unfamiliar hand.

_Meggie_

_I asked Orpheus to write you a letter for me, since I don't know how to read. I need your help. Dustfinger is in danger. Please come._

_Sincerely,_

_Farid_

_PS: I hope Gwin didn't bite you._

Meggie stared at the note for what seemed like an age. Dustfinger in danger? How could that be, considering he was already dead? And why was the note so cryptic? If he was going to bother to send her something, he could at least be clear, she thought, disgruntled.

_I asked _Orpheus_ to write you a letter… _That must be it. The only person currently in the Inkworld with the capability to send Gwin here was Orpheus. Meggie knew Farid didn't trust him; it was the only explanation for the note's brevity.

_Dustfinger is in danger. _she read again. The line completely bewildered her. How could someone be in more danger than that of death? Torture might be worse, but that hardly mattered, since the fire-eater was already dead. Or had Farid found a way to bring him back? Meggie's mind spun in answerless circles.

For what seemed like an age, Meggie sat in the grass, trying to figure out what to do. She had so many questions and no one to answer them.

The sound of a car passing by on the road made her look up, and she saw the garden where Dustfinger had first shown her his ability to tame fire. A long moment passed and Meggie was on her feet. Gwin, who had been enjoying his meal in the grass a few feet away, glanced up at her quizzically. She scowled at the marten.

"This is all your fault, you know." she muttered, turning towards the house. Gwin cocked his head and, in one fluid leap was on her shoulder. At first Meggie winced, but, seeing that he had no intention to hurt her, she continued her walk through the yard.

As soon as she opened the front door, she hurried straight for her room, the marten swaying on her shoulder. She threw open the bedroom door and slipped in, shutting and locking it behind her. Gwin jumped off of her shoulder and onto the mattress as she made her away across the room to her desk.

It was an old, but sturdy desk, made of pine wood and found by Resa at an old antique store. The smell of pine made Meggie think of her mother and a momentary pang of guilt hit her. Surely though, her parents would understand. She had to break her promise to her father--she couldn't just abandon Dustfinger. And Farid.

Pushing her guilt to the back of her mind, Meggie sat down at the desk and opened a drawer, pulling out one of the notebooks her father had bound for her. Gwin leapt to the desk and sniffed it suspiciously, before seating himself on the windowsill to watch her. Meggie stared at the marten, contemplatively for a moment.

Then she set her pen to the page and started to write.


End file.
